[1010RD]

The three volume Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire covers several observers of the decline. It’s ironic how much of the decline is directly related to sexual depravity, including homosexuality. Ironic in the sense that sexual depravity is sold in modern America has the height of liberty.

We have a group of hedonistic sociopaths running the country for their personal benefit and pleasure. Remember the pedophile from Belgium who, once caught, claimed a sexual perverse conspiracy that included top government officials and Belgian’s rich?

I believe that story and believe it applies to the US as well.

[Billthedrill]

Yep. I'm of the opinion that Gibbon started the thing a little too late. The rot set in before Marcus Aurelius. The Romans themselves couldn't agree on when. Cato the Elder's opinion was that it was when the Senatorial classes began to do some of the very things he did himself to make his fortune. But the Republic was dead long before Marius and Sulla came along to give it that final shove.

The best take on that topic I've found is Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy. He did have a tendency to idealize the early pieces but whether he believed Livy's every word or merely pretended to is a little hard to determine. Great stuff.